For the past 16 years, Pluto, as a symbol of collective power and transformation has moved through the sign of Capricorn. In late 2024, Pluto entered Aquarius, through which it will transit until 2044.
Pluto: leitmotif for the collective
Pluto represents the cultural, political and economic ideas, the dominant themes and leitmotifs of society and as well as its counter currents. When Pluto moves through a zodiac sign, it fixates the positive and negative attributes of that sign – orbiting tirelessly around the same, repetitive themes – as if to say that these must be observed before they can be transformed and lifted to a higher plane of consciousness.
During the 2024-2044 Pluto transit, we will see a fixation on classic Aquarius themes, including energy, artificial intelligence, technology, freedom and collective ideas. But before we consider what awaits us in business in the coming two decades, let’s take a look at the 2008-2024 Pluto in Capricorn transit.
The Power Pyramids: Pluto in Capricorn from 2008 to 2024
During the Pluto in Capricorn transit, the dominant way to look at businesses and societies was a like a pyramid. You had a few powerful people at the top, who pulled all the strings. These people were rewarded financially for assuming leadership roles and managing the hierarchy, while the base of the pyramid could delegate their responsibility to those higher-up.
The biggest risks and rewards were faced by those at the top of the hierarchy, and the larger the pyramid you managed, the more powerful you were considered to be.
Heads of state and business managers could reach higher and higher positions of authority by scaling their organisation. Business issues were typically addressed by growth, following the mantra: “if you just have enough people and resources, then problems will take care of themselves”.
While we saw some banks, travel and housing companies become ‘too big to fail’ just before the start of this transit, Pluto in Capricorn brought larger, more powerful governing bodies that would restrict business expansion.
Governments – now at the top of the power pyramid – began to exercise their regulatory powers. They introduced many new laws and hired officials to keep up with the demands of the work that their hierarchical structure imposed.
Widespread bureaucracy and red tape was one of the more unfortunate consequences for small businesses, many of whom struggled to keep up with the sheer volume of new regulation.
Meanwhile, heads of state and leaders of large corporations could count themselves lucky for rising to significant positions of authority. Their power was cemented by socio-cultural narratives like ‘trust the science’, ‘trust your doctor’ and ‘the government will take care of you’.
In addition, governments increased their influence and budget by introducing new taxes (e.g. carbon tax) and mandates (e.g. forced closures, sanctions, tariffs, etc.), that drove up costs and disproportionately affected smaller companies.
The new regulations also came with significant penalties for non-adherence, and public compliance was ensured through the synchronisation of the media, heightened surveillance and police activity, and other mechanisms of control. However, a select few – at the top of the hierarchy – seemed to be exempt from the rules, often laying them out as they pleased.
And as we neared the end of Pluto in Capricorn, quite a few countries (and companies) had power hierarchies in which the top of the pyramid was seemingly ‘above the law’ and could order or bribe the lower levels into compliance with whatever they thought best.
Meanwhile, people at the base of the pyramid have, in large part, become comfortable with delegating responsibility to those above. The true purpose of the Pluto in Capricorn transit was, however, not to delegate responsibility or assume control over others, but for us to acknowledge our individual responsibility for own life.
Pluto in Aquarius: From Power Pyramids to Power Networks
Testing Capricorn structures and systems
Now that Pluto has fully moved into Aquarius, we can expect that many of the social structures, systems and hierarchies of the last 16 years will be tested and challenged. In a business context, large companies may be under public scrutiny and pressure to consider the interests of the groups they interact with: customers, suppliers, employees, among others.
Governments and large institutions, in particular, must either adapt to new ideas, technologies and innovation or risk being swept away by the Aquarian energies. Whatever is too rigid, historic and stuck in its ways, will be questioned and challenged, sometimes forcefully. As we have already seen in the United States with Elon Musk launching DOGE, this is a time when people question the value and contribution of government departments and challenge their size and systems of operation.
As the Pluto in Aquarius transit progresses, the most egregious bureaucratic norms will be abolished and replaced with simpler, more practical systems. And instead of pyramid-like power structures, with a central authority at the top, we can expect power and influence to be distributed in a network-based manner.
Businesses and governments will become more decentralised and focussed on the collective, while influence might shift from a few powerful heads of state to anonymous structures such as computer networks and algorithms.
Technocracy as the new religion meets technological scepticism
During the 2008-2024 Pluto in Capricorn transit, people tried to solve business and government issues by setting up systems and hierarchical governance structures. But now, with Pluto in Aquarius, technology may be seen as the ideal solution to any problem.
New technologies in artificial intelligence, robotics and nanotechnology will indeed help solve many challenges we face today. But considering the Plutonic tendency to obsess over and fixate on things, people may see technology as a saviour, a divine, godlike entity that could well be the ‘holy grail’.
Entrepreneur Bryan Johnson, who has a Uranus in Scorpio placement in his chart, shows us in what direction we might be headed. Johnson experiments with various technologies to reverse ageing, and seems to be on a mission to use technology as a tool to escape death (true to his slogan: “Do not die”).
The Pluto in Aquarius transit carries forth a similar theme, but the focus will be transforming life and death, and power (Pluto) through the means of technology and innovation.
As a result, we may see a strong push for technocracy as a form of governance. Technocracy seeks to minimise human interaction in favour or more objective, algorithmic solutions designed by an elite group of experts.
The technocratic model will be supported by the development of digital IDs and online services, of which we are seeing the first hints already. From automatic tax and parking fine payments, online grant applications, and electronic voting systems, programmers will probably develop whole networks of digital tools to streamline government activity.
This web of technology can increase efficiency and speed up tasks that took hours or even days to complete under the Pluto in Capricorn transit, while reducing the need to visit government buildings. Many repetitive tasks will also be automated or delegated to artificial intelligence, freeing up people’s time.
Technologies like AI, robots, and digital trackers will also offer a new level of convenience to consumers, and thanks to fast progress in this area – society at large may develop an unwavering faith and trust in the potential of technology, such that some will argue that it is the solution to all our problems.
While the majority of people may decide to worship and idealise the new technologies, Pluto transits also come with strong counter-currents. As such, minority groups might oppose what artificial intelligence, cloud computing, 3D printing and nanotechnology have to offer – opting instead to preserve their traditional lifestyle.
Some of this technological scepticism may be the direct result of the failings and mishaps that are an inevitable part of early-stage innovation. Cyberattacks, outages, data theft and other risks are side effects of digital technological that will clash with the dominant narrative of ‘technology being here to save us’.
The digital panopticon: trapped amidst corporate and state surveillance
Power structures established under the Pluto in Capricorn may be cemented through algorithms and surveillance technology between 2024 to 2044.
Authoritarian leaders can observe and control the masses using surveillance devices such as cameras, microphones, smart devices, drones and satellite images. These tools – in addition to making our lives more comfortable and convenient – seamlessly transit audio and video recordings of any place, at any time. We can expect that the ‘eyes and ears’ of observation will be fitted with a network connection, so they can communicate with data hubs, and the data will be analysed by software programmes that allow a quick response to public protests and civil unrest.
The new surveillance technologies – will of course – not just help nation states maintain positions of power, but also help companies gather more customer data that they can then use to develop and promote their products.
Speech-activated virtual assistants (e.g. Alexa), cars that connect to your phone, sensor-based lighting and digital key locks are just a few examples of how data can be gathered and then: sold to the highest bidder, shared with law enforcement or used by companies to tailor their products and marketing to our preferences.
Number #101 in the digital dossier
In the marketing realm, companies will use many of the same technologies that governments do to better observe, analyse and then serve their customers. Aside from surveillance through the products we own (or lease), we will see business use extensive marketing tracking. New technologies will likely be more invasive than cookies – and could involve device fingerprinting, QR codes, or blockchain-based tracking.
Possibly companies will have their own ledgers or databases recording each individual’s touchpoint with their marketing: whether that be a hologram in a physical store, a message shared in a new online community or an e-mail sent to their customer service team. By 2040, you could customer #101 in a company’s dossier, and every move you make, every action on their website, app or hologram will be recorded.
Who holds the rights to an idea: you or the collective?
Pluto in Aquarius encourages novelty and originality. And in a time where AI makes cloning and copying super easy, those who stand out from the crowd will expand rapidly, so long as they remain innovative and on top of the trend.
With original ideas as a force driving success, a key area of discussion will open up around intellectual property. In the next 20 years or so, we may see new debates around which ideas and creations can be owned by an individual or companies, and what is part of the collective. What is a unique creation of the mind and what is collective knowledge that is free for everyone to work with and copy?
In response to these questions, new systems and technologies may be adopted to protect ownership over digital assets. NFTs, for example, could be used not just to track collectible items, but to manage licencing of music and artwork and to prove authorship of digital works from blogs to podcasts and video content.
As a result, unique creations of the individual (Leo) will be embedded in a context and environment that makes them readily available to all members of society.
To facilitate this, many businesses will use the exact same systems and standards, operating perhaps as separate legal structures, but through a joint network of technology – where if a critical component fails, a whole business area or industry can come crashing down.
The Leo-Aquarius axis: Individualism vs. group conformity
For the past 16 years, the balance between the individual and the collective was governed by laws (Capricorn) on one hand, and emotions and upbringing (Cancer) on the other.
During the current transit, Pluto activates the Leo-Aquarius axis, which balanced individual expression with group conformity. Now, with Pluto in Aquarius, the theme of conformity vs. individuality will emerge primarily in social networks and groups.
Instead of top-down censorship (Pluto in Capricorn), people may restrict what they say and think to fit within specific groups (Pluto in Aquarius). At the same time, the use of bots and algorithms promotes group think, as people are repeatedly exposed to the same ideas and boxed in based on their preferences. This narrows people’s windows of experience and information, if it is not balanced with a healthy dose of individual thought and expression.
On the upside, the ‘herd mentality’ will lead to formation of new groups and communities of like-minded individuals. People can cluster together based on shared ideas and values, and collaborate on projects that they believe in.
Businesses can tap into and foster this development, by building their own communities through online groups, events and collaboration with their customers, employees and other stakeholders. Community-driven marketing is likely to reach new heights, and so is group discussion, as we have already seen with the launch of community notes.
This transit could easily bring about a Web 3.0 version, or a revival of forums and digital market squares, where people can meet and talk about topics they are interested in, perhaps using digital avatars to represent them.
This is because Pluto in Aquarius, while bringing together people with the same ideas, is fundamentally here to show us that we can all have different viewpoints, and that these differences are (intellectually and practically) enriching. Diversity of thought and a broad-minded network are strategic advantages for business leaders during this time.
Pluto in Aquarius: a stepping stone to universal consciousness under Pluto in Pisces
In the same way that Pluto in Capricorn laid the foundation for the current Pluto in Aquarius transit, the next 20 years will also prepare us for Pluto passing through Pisces.
As such 2024-2044 could be a stepping stone to universal consciousness. Spiritual people might come together in groups to use their minds for telepathy, remote viewing and travel into other states of being.
Technology could also be used connect minds to computers, at first, and then to connect the brain of one person with that of another. We are already seeing early attempts at this through – NEURALINK and wearables that monitor and transit body functions such as heart rate, blood pressure, etc..
But what does the future have in store? Will we see nano-dust assemble itself into real-world objects based on a person’s command? Or will we live in a computer-human symbiosis? How the Pluto in Pisces transit will play out remains to be seen in 2050s, but what we can say today, is that we will be laying the foundation for the blending of real and virtual worlds in the current Pluto in Aquarius transit lasting from 2024 to 2044..
Note: In parallel with the Pluto in Aquarius transit, Neptune enters Aries in mid 2025, so new ideas and visions can find a foothold in our world, and conquer new terrain, especially in virtual world and the realm of our subconscious mind. You can read more about the Neptune in Aries transit here.
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